A study of the shucture and function of a microtubule-nucleating complex from Drosophild embryo extracts was initiated. The y-TuRC (y-Tubulin Ring Complex) appeared as disc-shaped particles in the STEM when the specimen was fi=ze-dried, simila to previous TEM image& The preparation was relatively clean and the complexes were approximately 2.5 MDa. Many additional experiments are planned. It turns out that their preparations routinely have 2kDa peptides (to elute the complex from a column) which has'caused bad background problems. Work is underway to avoid this.